The T Salon Tea Tour to India
March 9 – 19, 2011
eat…drink…think

The T Salon, a very cool, eco-chic sustainable tea shop in NYC and LA, has put together an amazing journey to India, and is inviting fun, like-minded and curious tea enthusiasts to share in what will no doubt, be an incredible experience.

Led by the company’s CEO & founder, Miriam Novalle – a tea guru/NY business woman/visionary and larger-than-life character, the tea tour itinerary is all about experiencing India from its tea to its people and their entrepreneurial spirit.  There will be daily tea tastings, accommodations at great hotels, fabulous shopping, dinners and opportunities to meet really interesting locals who are shaping Indian art, business and culture.

The T Salon tour will bring people together to discuss culture, current events, politics, literature, fashion, theater…all over a cup of tea.  With its vibrant culture, deep spirituality, innovation and increased power in the global economy, India makes a perfect destination to kick-off a traveling Salon Series.

Program Itinerary

Calcutta – The Oberoi Grand Hotel – 3 nights

Darjeeling – Windamere Hotel -  3 nights

Delhi – The Claridges Hotel – 3 nights

Agra – ITC Mughal -  1 night

If you book before December 15th, you get $250 off the price.  Plus – they are offering EZ Pay Installments for those of us who are going but need a little extra wiggle room in their budget.

Visit the T Salon Tour website for more details and how to make reservations.  This will be an amazing journey.  I am so looking forward to it!

Sleek & Spare Pop-Up Hotel Room

When life gives you  lemons, make lemonade.  So the saying goes.  Apparently the travel industry is following suit, and doing a little squeezing of its own for the budget-constrained, on-the-go traveler who doesn’t mind a bit of pre-fab construction.

Pop-up hotels have been well, popping-up all over the world for a couple of years now, most recently in Europe. According to a recent report on travel trends in 2010 and beyond from Euromonitor International, pop-up hotels are stacked up to become a major tourism phenom. The key advantage is the ability to quickly provision portable and affordable hotel rooms in conjunction with longer-term events and festivals. Not surprisingly, the rooms are small, though efficiently laid-out.  The decor -  urbane chic – sleek and spare – Ikea meets modern prison cell. In the best possible way.

London will get its first pop-up hotel in Spring 2010 in the form of uber cool and luxurious  M-Hotel, designed by UK architect Tim Pyne, whose construction concept is frequently likened to snapping Lego blocks together. “The hotel can go up – and be taken down – in three days,” says Pyne. “Each room concertinas down into a shipping container, so they can be easily transported by rail or road.” Other advantages? “The M-hotel concept can explore the opportunities to construct hotels in underdeveloped areas and can also be relocated around the world,” says Pyne.  Design-wise, M-Hotel rooms are chic and well-laid out – interior walls can even be moved to create a bigger room or conference space.

Other chains are quickly setting themselves up to be players in the porta-tourism space. In the UK, Travelodge has already launched its Travelpod and plans to build nearly 40 hotels a year by 2020, half of which are expected to be pop-up. At about £29 a night, there’s money left over to buy a nice bottle of wine, unfold a paper wine glass and medicate yourself through the inevitable claustrophobia of spending a night in a box, albeit a fabulously hip and eco-chic one.  Hmmm.

The Travelpod - Habitrail Chic

M-Hotel Cool and Customizable Exterior

W French Quarter

April, 2009

First time in New Orleans. Traveling with my two teens.  I was looking for a hotel that had the traditional architecture and look of the French Quarter combined with the contemporary, hip, up-market feel of a boutique hotel. After time-consumingly weighing all the options, I finally settled on the W French Quarter, which quickly became a family favorite – when teenagers give a “thumbs up” (or in this case, when they form the shape of a “W” with their fingers), you have hit parent pay dirt.

First and foremost on the list of pros has to be the  location on Chartres (pronounced Charters), a charming little street with great art galleries, bars and boutiques.  From the W, its a straight shot to Jackson Square – 3 or 4 mini blocks down the street, Cafe du Monde and other local attractions.  As always, I made it a priority to have a peek at some of the other contender hotels and found them to be either in a funky location (in a bad way) or really dated and rough around the edges.  Personally, I would not stay on or just-off St Charles, which felt just slightly to the left of edgy, therefore ruling out several options, including the Ritz.  Ditto Bourbon St, where the constant chaos would make me want to slit my wrists after an hour.  For us, the W was a little haven – understated, hip and quiet.

Our room, located on the second floor, featured a charming terrace overlooking Chartres Street. With two double beds, the room itself was fine for us.  The decor was sleek and modern, though a little dark.  This was off-set by the large balcony, which brought in light and gave much needed space to the beleaguered mother.  The bathroom was surprisingly roomy with a large, walk-in shower (no bath) and Bliss Spa products, which are so good, I’m convinced the pilferage rate is through the roof.  One note – the bathroom “door” is a frosted sliding glass panel – very modern chic, but possibly not for the more modest traveling companion.  Fun fact  – the kids were highly amused at some of the mini bar offerings, including the “Romance Pack” of lubricant, condom and breath freshner!!!

Undoubtedly the best part of the W French Quarter is the courtyard, a study in cool comfort where gas lamps blend with oversized Balinese daybeds.  There’s a small pool to enjoy in the day, but the vibe is best experienced at night, when the star-shaped candles in the trees are lit and the piped-in music lulls you into the depths of your daybed.  Another fun fact – a trompe l’oeil video is discreetly shown against a courtyard wall depicting various room scenes in which imaginary hotel guests are looking out their windows, having phone conversations, pouring a drink, or undressing (modestly).  It feels very “Rear Window” and kept us all entertained for ages.

The only minor downsides – room service is linked to the Italian restaurant downstairs which doesn’t offer a great variety of food or snack items.  However, there are so many eating options within walking distance that it was a non-issue, though would have been nice.  Also – the service was not terrific, but possibly due to a full house every night of our stay.  Tips – Breakfast – go across the street to the Fleur de Lys – amazing and quick food; great pizza place (Rotelos) also across the street with killer calzones; Stanley on the square good for brunch or lunch; Definitely do the New Orleans Haunted History tour with Jonathan as your guide.

June 2009

In PP, we wouldn’t stay anywhere else. We’re not on a backpackers budget, but don’t necessarily like the rarified isolationism of Raffles (though love the hotel’s famous piano bars), so thought the Pavilion’s brand of low-key chic might fit the bill. It did not disappoint, and we felt like we were staying with friends at their lovely colonial villa.

Unlike others, we did not encounter any problems with reception staff – even in the reservation process, they were responsive and courteous, and even assisted me with some basic Khmer salutations. While there, we found them to be warm and helpful. If anything, non-invasive, which is far preffered to cloying and obtrusive. Sure, a couple of times there wasn’t anyone behind the desk, but you know what, go have a drink by the pool and come back in five minutes. In addition, upon arrival the first day we dropped our bags in the room and rushed out for an afternoon of jet-lagged sight seeing. When we returned to our room, I was touched to see that my things had been unpacked and beautifully put away for me, with shoes lined up and dresses hung. It was an unexpected and thoughtful nicety. We had room 7 with a large balcony overlooking the pool. We found it to be perfect. Everything done in a very clean aesthetic – white walls and linens, dark wood floors, carved mirrors, chunky wooden furniture, even down to interesting ceramic pulls to hold the roman shade cords. Just great style. We also found the bed and pillows to be really comfortable.

Grounds are truly a jungle oasis, well-maintained with the center piece being the simple jade-tiled pool. Funky oversized Tibetan beds with cool, colorful cushion covers are nestled into the palms for a little shade and privacy. We didn’t experience any issues with locals hogging the space, but perhaps we were just lucky or didn’t really care. The little restaurant next to the pool is charming and we found the food to be incredibly fresh, amazing and varied, though we couldn’t get enough of the Khmer food, so never tried any of the many western offerings. Breakfasts were – to us – absolute heaven. The fresh passionfruit juice, fruit, bread and eggs were perfection each morning. I am still dreaming about the bread.

We ended up modifying our itinerary last minute in order to return to the Pavilion after our trip to Siem Reap. One night during this stay, we had to take a small room with two single four-poster beds as the place was booked. While smaller, the room still maintained the understated chic aesthetic of the property, and I was grateful to even get a room at the last minute! In this room (18) we were entranced with the black & white photographs of Afghanistan taken in 1932 by – presumably – a relation of the owner’s. They are scattered throughout that section of the hotel, and are absolutely mesmerizing – don’t miss them. I would also absolutely look into one of the pool rooms.

It may be helpful that we looked at other hotels while in PP to get a feel for comparison. For us, we found the busyness of the river side to be too hectic, thus taking the FCC (tired and tattered catering to tourists), the Quay (nice but pretty modern and not very comfortable) and the Amanjaya out of the running. The Pavilion is also located in a great area – just next to Street 240 – great shopping and funky restaurants.

The reality is that the Pavilion threw a wrench into our subsequent hotel experiences in Cambodia as all we wanted was to come back to our little villa behind the elephants and the white wall.